The invention relates to a method for the production of an implant from cell cultures, particularly an implant of cartilage cells whereby these cells are applied to an absorbable support structure and then implanted.
Should the body's own tissue be removed, so that cartilage, for example, must be replaced, two options are presently available. One option is that the required tissue may be taken from cadavers, preserved, and then implanted. In this case, immune reactions sometimes occur. The other option is to replace the removed tissue by implanting tissue taken from locations of the patient's own body which are not externally visible. Here, no risk of immune reactions is present.
A serious disadvantage of these two methods, however, is that an adequate amount of replacement tissue may not be available, so that the desired substitution of tissue cannot be completed.
Therefore, a third method has been proposed. In this method, cells which have been isolated and propagated in a conventional manner are applied to a polymer fiber bundle of absorbable material, and the bundle is implanted. See C. A. Vacanti et al., Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 8 (5) 753-759, November 1991. By layering the bundle with superimposed and adjacent layers, the implant can be shaped somewhat in a three-dimensional manner. After implantation, the polymer material is absorbed, whereby simultaneously the intercellular matrix between the individual cells is formed from collagen, especially so that in the final stage a tissue structure results which is integrated into the surrounding tissue and is fully functional.
This third method is still in the trial stage with tests being conducted on animals, but has not yet been applied in human medicine.
Difficulties probably arise with this method in the shaping of the desired implant, because during the absorption of the fiber material, shape stability cannot be expected from the layers superimposed and adjacent to one another. Furthermore, for larger implants, difficulties result with the nourishment of the individual cells which lie inside the implant.